“6 Dollar Minimum? Fine, I guess I’ll just have to eat that giant cookie.”

It’s less than a day into the cashless/cardless smackdown and this competition has already cost me $3 dollars I had no intent of spending. Granted, they were $3 delicious dollars (in the form of a giant chocolate chip cookie), but unnecessary spending nonetheless.

As part of team cashless, for the next week I am doomed to meeting the credit card minimum at whatever fine or mediocre establishment I frequent. Yesterday, the hurdle was $6. Tomorrow? Who knows?

I just wanted a glass of lemonade. But that wasn’t enough. So I bought a lemonade for a friend as well (who gave me cash in exchange…is this a rule violation? I’m not going to use the cash, but the friend wouldn’t accept a free drink. What could I do?). The second lemonade wasn’t enough either. So I tacked some bread onto the purchase as well. Surely two glasses of lemonade and a piece of focaccia bread would cost more than $6 dollars, right? No. What was wrong with this place? Why was everything so…affordable?!?!

So, in a moment of panic (I was holding up the line!), I opted for the impulse buy of all impulse buys: the opiate of the sweettooth-ed, the BFF of milk, the bane of waistband -the giant cookie sitting next to the cash register. While delicious, it was highly unnecessary.

If this episode is any indication, this competition will most likely be costly but extremely pleasant for me. If any of the horse-trading that occurred yesterday via email of cardless people who were desperate to become cashless is any indicator, team cardless thinks they’ve drawn the short straw. With the memory of that cookie still lingering on my taste buds, I’m inclined to agree with them.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I forgot to pay rent prior to this competition starting. I’m cheating by having my wife do it. I’d rather be on good terms with my landlord than wait a week to turn rent in late. I wish they accepted credit cards – God knows what I could do with the frequent flier miles – but they don’t.